Chelsea Clinton doesn’t rule out bid for public office

Holly Bailey

National Correspondent

The TicketApril 8, 2013

After years of refusing to talk to the press, Chelsea Clinton has gradually raised her public profile over the past year, inking a deal as a special correspondent for NBC News and taking on a more prominent role in the Clinton Foundation—run by her father, former President Bill Clinton.

Not surprisingly, that has led to speculation about the former first daughter’s future. Could she be thinking about a run for public office? In an interview with her employer, NBC News, on Monday, Clinton didn’t quite rule it out.

“Right now I'm grateful to live in a city, a state and a country where I strongly support my mayor, my governor, my president and my senators and my representative,” Clinton said in an interview that aired on the “Today Show.” “If at some point that weren't true, and I thought I could make a meaningful and measurably greater impact, I'd have to ask and answer that question.”

She offered a similar response in a Q&A with Parade Magazine, admitting it’s something that she would have considered before Hillary Rodham Clinton’s 2008 White House bid.

“Before my mom’s campaign in 2008, I would have said no, not because of any kind of thoughtful, deliberative questioning, but simply because people have been asking me that for as long as I can remember,” she replied, adding that she has not thought “too far into the future.”

In the NBC interview, Clinton was asked about speculation Hillary Clinton will run for president again in 2016, but she gave no hints about what her mother is thinking.

“As a daughter, I very much want her to make the right choice for herself, and I know that will be (the) right choice for our country, and I’ll support her in whatever she chooses to do,” Clinton said.